Holder for coffee pod

ABSTRACT

A coffee holder has a cup shaped to hold a coffee pod and having a radially projecting rim and a floor, a collar projecting downward from the floor, forming a downwardly open outlet passage opening upward into the cup, and having a lower end, and a screen extending across the passage at the lower end. Thus coffee is aerated as it moves along the passage through the screen.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a holder for a coffee pod.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A portafilter or holder for a coffee pod, although of course it isusable with a filter and charge of loose coffee, comprises a cuptypically having a handle and formed in its floor with an outlet port.The pod itself is normally made as a short cylindrical pad filled withground coffee and having a flange forming a radial extension of itsplanar upper face. In use the pod is dropped into the cup of theportafilter, the portafilter is fitted to the group head, and hot wateris forced down through the pod at a pressure of 1.5 bar to 2 bar, sothat the desired infusion-coffee-drips from the outlet port into one ortwo cups sitting underneath it.

As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,705 of Dijs, the holder is formed inits floor with an array of radially extending and upwardly open groovesthat terminate at the central port. Thus the liquid exiting the bottomof the pod runs along these grooves to the port, whence it drips out ofthe holder.

A disadvantage of this system is that the coffee produced by it does nothave the froth or crema that is made by a standard commercial orpressurized system using loose ground coffee that is tamped in theholder. The lack of such crema, which increases the aroma of theespresso thus produced, is considered a serious failing by coffeeafficionados. In addition the holder is particularly hard to clean,especially once the grooves develop lime deposits.

A so-called perfect-crema disk has been proposed for use in a coffeeholder. It is a rubber disk with an aperture and serves mainly toincrease back pressure on the grounds held in the pod. Such an accessoryis largely ineffective in producing good crema, and is itself abothersome item to deal with and maintain clean.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved holder for a pod-type coffee machine.

Another object is the provision of such an improved holder for apod-type coffee machine which overcomes the above-given disadvantages,that is which produces excellent crema and that is easy to clean.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A coffee holder according to the invention has a cup shaped to hold acoffee pod and having a radially projecting rim and a floor, a collarprojecting downward from the floor, forming a downwardly open outletpassage opening upward into the cup, and having a lower end, and ascreen extending across the passage at the lower end. Thus coffee isaerated as it moves along the passage through the screen.

In this manner it is possible, using standard preprepared coffee pods,to produce espresso having a crema just like that of a tamped charge ina standard espresso machine. The liquid that normally issues as apressurized stream from the bottom of the portafilter is aerated as itpasses through the screen, foaming nicely so that the cup has thedesired appearance and taste.

The screen according to the invention can be a metallic mesh or felt. Itis not intended to produce back pressure, as in pressurizedportafilters, but instead merely serves to aerate the passing infusion.

According to the invention an interceptor plate is suspended on the cupunderneath the collar so that coffee passing through the screen dropsonto the plate. This plate serves to further increase foam/cremaformation. In addition a mesh skirt can be provided extending outwardfrom an outer edge of the interceptor plate. The skirt is downwardlyconcave so that the foam in the coffee is separated and flows down onthe surface of the mesh while the liquid coffee passes straight through.In another system there is no plate, just the mesh shaped like anumbrella so that the coffee squirted onto it is separated into twophases, foam on the upper surface of the mesh and liquid passingthrough. Once again foam formation is encouraged.

In accordance with the invention support struts in the cup above thefloor thereof support a coffee pod in the cup off the floor. Thus thesestruts, which extend radially as spokes, support the coffee pod up offthe floor, creating a space for coffee to collect under the pod. Thismeans the cup can have an easy-to-clean smooth floor. Furthermoreaccording to the invention outer ends of the spokes are fixed to a ringand the spoke/ring assembly is separable from the cup for cleaning. Toprevent coffee particles from clogging the nozzle, a mesh is held by thespokes above the floor underneath the pod.

The floor of the cup according to the invention is generallyfrustoconical and dished. In addition the cup rim has a recess adaptedto receive a flange of a coffee pod.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become morereadily apparent from the following description, reference being made tothe accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical axial section through a holder and pot according tothe invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the holder without the pod;

FIG. 3 is a large-scale sectional view of a detail of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 are views like FIG. 1 of variants on the system ofthis invention.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a coffee-holder 1 according to the invention,typically formed as or fittable in the head of a portafilter for anespresso machine, holds a standard easy-serving-espresso (ESE) pod 3comprised of a cylindrical filter-paper bag filled with finely groundroasted coffee and having a radially projecting flange 3. The holder 1itself is basically formed ideally of brass as an upwardly open cuphaving a slightly frustoconical and upwardly flared side wall 11, aplanar floor 12, and a planar flange or rim 3 adapted to fit in thegroup head of the espresso machine and all centered on a normallyupright axis A. The upper surface of the floor 12 is of frustoconicalshape, that is dished to the central axis A, and is formed with threethroughgoing holes or ports 5 that are angularly equispaced about theaxis A.

According to the invention as shown in FIG. 3 each port is extended as acollar 4 and is provided on its lower end with a screen 13. Here thescreen is a fine mesh of stainless steel, although other metals or evenplastic materials are in theory usable. These screens 13 serve to aeratethe coffee as it drips from the holder 1 and creates a crema virtuallyidentical to that made in an espresso machine using tamped groundcoffee.

In addition the holder 1 is provided sitting on the floor 12 underneaththe pod 2 with a spacer 14 formed as a plurality of radially projectingspokes or struts 6 joined together at the axis A and secured to an outerring 7 that fits loosely inside the wall 11. This spacer 14 holds thebottom surface of the pod 2 above the dished upper face of the floor 12so that liquid coffee forced out of the pod 2 can collect easily andflow along the floor 11 to the outlets 4, whence it drips down throughthe screens 13.

FIG. 4 shows how a central support pin 15 can support a splash plate 14formed as a small circular disk spaced below the outlet ports 5. Thuscoffee exiting in effect as pressurized streams from the ports 5impinges on this plate 14, forming excellent crema or foam that dripsoff the outer edge into an underlying cup.

In FIG. 5 the support pin 15 carries a part-spherical and downwardlyconcave screen 16 shaped like an umbrella and centered on the axis A.With this arrangement, the combination of foam and liquid impinging onthe screen 16 is separated into a foam component that runs radially downits upper surface to drip from its edge and a liquid component thatpasses essentially straight through.

The system of FIG. 6 is a combination of that of FIGS. 4 and 5 with acentral splash plate 14 surrounded by an annular downwardly arced screen17. Here the foam and liquid run together to the edge of the plate 14whereupon the liquid drips straight through the screen 17 while the foamruns to its outer edge and drips off.

1. A coffee holder comprising: a cup shaped to hold a coffee pod andhaving a radially projecting rim and a floor; a collar projectingdownward from the floor, forming a downwardly open outlet passageopening upward into the cup, and having a lower end; and a screenextending across the passage at the lower end, whereby coffee is aeratedas it moves along the passage through the screen.
 2. The coffee holderdefined in claim 1 wherein the screen is metallic.
 3. The coffee holderdefined in claim 1, further comprising an interceptor plate suspended onthe cup underneath the collar, whereby coffee passing through the screendrops onto the plate.
 4. The coffee holder defined in claim 3, furthercomprising a mesh skirt extending outward from an outer edge of theinterceptor plate, the skirt being downwardly concave.
 5. The coffeeholder defined in claim 1, further comprising a downwardly concave meshsuspended on the cup underneath the collar, whereby coffee passingthrough the screen drops on the mesh and is separated into foam runningdownward and outward on the mesh and liquid passing through the mesh. 6.The coffee holder defined in claim 1, further comprising support strutsin the cup above the floor thereof for supporting a coffee pod in thecup off the floor.
 7. The coffee holder defined in claim 6 wherein thestruts extend radially as spokes.
 8. The coffee holder defined in claim7, further comprising a ring in the cup to which outer ends of thespokes are fixed.
 9. The coffee holder defined in claim 6 wherein thespokes are separable from the cup.
 10. The coffee holder defined inclaim 6, further comprising a mesh held by the spokes above the floorunderneath the pod.
 11. The coffee holder defined in claim 6 wherein thespokes are spaced above the floor.
 12. The coffee holder defined inclaim 1 wherein the floor of the cup is generally frustoconical anddished.
 13. The coffee holder defined in claim 1 wherein the cup rim hasa recess adapted to receive a flange of a coffee pod.